Coming up against Gillingham sees Andy Dawson’s first managerial game, facing off against one of his former managers in the form of Peter Taylor.
While that prospect is not something he expected at the start of the week, it is something he vows to take in his stride as he hopes to take maximum points in the weekend’s clash at Priestfield.“It’s amazing how stories are written in football,” Dawson declared.
“He took me to Hull City from Scunthorpe many moons ago and obviously we went on to be very successful there. It’s a manager I know well and I played with Hezzy (Andy Hessenthaler), his assistant, so I know them both very well; they’re great characters and they’ve been very successful.
“I spent many years with Peter and we know a few things about them and we’ve been through that on Thursday morning.”
He added: “Again, it’s not about them, it’s about us and getting the lads to go and express themselves on Saturday afternoon. That’s all we have to do. If it lasts further, who knows.”
The removal of a manager has occurred many times throughout Dawson’s career, but on this occasion he found himself on the coaching side of things, something he admitted brought a different scenario for him.
“The situation is strange for me as well because in the past I’ve just been a player,” he continued.
“As a player, you get yourself ready to train and you go out and do that regardless of who takes it.
"On Wednesday, it was me who found myself on the other side, so it was up to me to prepare the lads and prepare the session and to take the players’ mind off what has happened.
"It does affect you as a player, but in all fairness to everybody they got their heads down, they worked hard and they’re ready to go now.
“I’ve had experience in it and it’s not nice. My experiences will hopefully help the lads and I’ll sit down and talk to them about that. We’ve got to remember that we’ve got some very good footballers at this football club.”
He added: “Hopefully they can show us what they can do, again starting on Saturday afternoon against Gillingham.”
See much more from Andy Dawson on The Iron Player.